At 10 he gave up gymnastics and focused solely on BMX. Six hard years and a lot of falls later he turned professional at 16 in 2000. Over the years, the events have changed as McCann has rubbed elbows with the sports elite.

But the 31-year-old from Melbourne, Australia, now makes his home in Pennsylvania when he isn't visiting down under.

There seem to be a lot of Aussies on the Tour? Do you think there is a reason for that?

I think they just come over to America and they really want to have a good go at it and they love to ride the bikes and they don't give up. It is always good to see the boys over here involved and put it together on the days they are riding really well.

Is there a camaraderie between you guys?

Yeah, we definitely all kind of support each other. We are all from different areas of Australia though, but like all people from you home country you support them and you get behind them when they are at the events.

Who do you most enjoy competing against?

There have been so many guys over the years that I have been able to compete against and ride against. Obviously the come from Dirt and then I rode Park and I moved into Vert and then to Mega Ramp, so I have ridden with every single person on tour pretty much. I am one of the only guys who have ridden with all the guys on tour and even some that aren't around any more. I have been over here for a long time now. I have enjoyed all the guys. All of them have been top level and I'm fighting it out with them for podiums and it's a good time. It is rad to see people put their runs together on the day and come out the other side with a win or just a place on the podium. Being on the podium is a huge deal no matter which event it is because these guys are all so good.

How much time do you spend in the US?

I am here most of the year. It has always been like 10 months of the year. I spend quite a bit of time here.

Do you spend much time at the beach being here on the east coast?

I spend a little bit of time at the beach, as much as I can. I live in Australia when I'm not here and try to spend as much time on the coast as I can.

At what point did you think: Maybe I can make this whole professional BMX rider thing work?

That is an interesting question. For me it just kind of happened. I got pretty lucky and met some good people early on in my career that helped me out a lot and it kind of turned into a career without even thinking about it. I was in Australia in a contest (Planet X Games) and I got hurt, but Travis Chipres was running the Specialized team and he saw me and said he'd like to help me out. I had broken my collarbone that year, but then I came over to the US, did pretty well and I got hurt again — breaking the other collarbone — and I thought that was kind of it for me. I had just turned 18. But Travis called me and gave me a full ride overseas which was pretty rad with a travel budget and a wage and everything. It just kind of happened by accident and I have been here 14 years this year. It is just cool when people believe in you and give you a shot. So, I took full advantage of it and here we are. The following year Travis moved over to the Mongoose team and gave me a spot there. I have been there every since.

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Have you had a lot of injuries?

I have been very lucky through out my career. Injuries are a part of any sport. It doesn't matter what you do you have injuries and I have been lucky that I haven't really had too many. But that is all through hard work and just making sure you are on point and doing the best to prevent yourself from being hurt.

People probably don't think about health and nutrition when it comes to action sports, but I'm guessing you aren't able to just ignore those things?

It is like in any sport. You look after your diet and stuff like that, watch what you eat. But obviously we are not all perfect, so you kind of do your own thing and whatever works for you over the years. Every person is different and we all operate differently.

Are there advantages or disadvantages to participating in four different types of events?

There are plenty of disadvantages and there are plenty of advantages. I have acquired a lot of skills over the years from riding different things and just being around different people and different events helps you expand your horizons of how you think about riding a bike and what you can do.

Does that also keep things more interesting for you?

I enjoy the challenge of moving from event to event and seeing what I can do when I went to each new event. That was the cool part for me, the challenge of trying to get better at each event.

How much do you practice and do you focus on one thing more than another?

I probably practice like two or three hours a day and I hit the gym here and there. It is like any sports, you can't do too much. You can't play catchup. I always like to say you cant go out and train for nine hours and catch up, because you just wear yourself out and you don't have the energy to do the tricks you want to do at 100 percent.

You were in gymnastics at an early age. Has that background helped you with your riding over the years?

I definitely think it has. You are more ware of getting yourself in and out of situations. Gymnastics teaches you coordination and from there you can kind of move on with whatever you want to do.

You once had a guest role on an Australian soap?

Yeah that is always a fun one. Neighbors is one of the biggest TV shows in Australia and I kind of played myself on the show for an episode or two. It was pretty funny and I always kind of laugh about it when I see the episode. Someone actually pulled it up the other day and we had a laugh about it. It was all kind of short and funny. The role was that we were asking one of the main characters on the show to come and be a DJ on tour. It was me and my friend Renton Miller who is a skateboarder. It was pretty funny and we always laugh about it when someone brings it up.

Handicap the park field for me?

I'm not competing in park, but I think the park contest is going to be a pretty good one. Rob Nyquest and Daniel Dhers and Kyle Baldock are going to be the three guys I think to watch. Then Logan Martin he is going to be a key one. The list is pretty big in Park and all the guys are pretty good, so it is going to be a strong contest for anyone who goes to watch.

Is it tough to decide what events you are going to do at each competition?

No I think you just pick and choose your battles according to what you want to do. For me, I think the last couple of years I have kind of moved out of the Park scene and just did the Vert and the Mega-ramp stuff, but I'll go back every now and then and ride those events. Obviously I don't get the same results I used to, but that is all part of the fun, just trying to work your way back up.